“WE listen. We respect. We deliver.” That’s the message on the website of Lifeways, which describes itself as “one of the UK’s leading providers of support services for people with diverse and often complex needs in community settings.”

But at Living Ambitions, a Glasgow-based subsidiary of Lifeways, workers feel anything but respected and listened to — and they’re waiting for the delivery of their wages.

This week, at a demonstration organised by their union GMB, workers demanded bosses come down from their ivory tower — the striking former Templeton carpet factory by Glasgow Green — and accept a collective grievance from over 40 workers. 

For months, Living Ambitions staff have been complaining about underpayment and the company’s failure to provide them with payslips — which is against the law, and means they cannot work out if they have been correctly paid.

“Every month someone is underpaid. I’ve already had three grievances [personally],” says support worker Anne-Marie Graham, in front of the banner of the GMB’s Glasgow Apex branch.

“We’re paid on the 12th of the month, and it’s now the 20th and I haven’t received a pay slip.

“They’re making us beg for money. It’s a long shift, and we’re not asking for anything we haven’t worked for.”

“We’re hoping to get some dignity and respect for the work we do.”

Before heading to Living Ambitions HQ on Wednesday this week, the workers gathered outside Glasgow’s City Chambers in George Square — because the support service, after all, carries out work under contract from the council. 

The demonstrators were met by Labour councillor Matt Kerr, who suggested the practices of Living Ambitions might conflict with council policies. 

“We know there’s supposed to be a fair procurement framework,” Kerr told the workers. “Several months ago we had one [contractor] organisation which derecognised the trade union. In my view, the council should have stepped in in both cases.”

The workers then marched to Glasgow Green, where the chants only got louder. “For a care provider you don’t seem to care about your workers, so come down and meet them!” cried Morgan Horn, an organiser at the Scottish TUC who is working with the GMB branch.

Initially reps and union organisers sought to enter the office block where Living Ambitions are based. But they were thwarted by the concierge from the management company running the wider building, who refused them entry. 

Workers were undeterred by her instruction to “keep it down,” exclaiming: “We can’t have a quiet protest!” The concierge later called the police — who arrived after the demo had finished.

But the message had got through, and apparently afraid to meet the workers themselves, bosses at Living Ambitions called in their superiors from Lifeways in London.

Within hours, the workers and their reps were meeting with negotiators. But according to union organisers, bosses sought to focus on the demo rather than issues it was over — and then argued that grievances should be dealt with individually. 

The union flatly rejected this advice — and eventually they accepted the collective grievance. Meanwhile Glasgow City Council is understood to be investigating the GMB’s allegations in light of its contracting policies.

The Star contacted Living Ambitions, but the company said it would not be commenting on the dispute and demo.

As well as payment of their wages, the support workers at Living Ambitions want their union to be officially recognised for bargaining purposes. 

But if they achieve that, which would most likely be after a long and protracted campaign, that is unlikely to be the last we hear of fightbacks in this sector. 

Care and support workers are regularly exploited for the goodwill they show towards their work and the people they look after — with employers failing to pay for travel time between assignments and sleep-over jobs. 

Bullying, poverty pay and lousy terms are among other grievances for workers in the sector. If bosses don’t start listening, respecting and delivering, there could be trouble afoot like they’ve never seen before.